Gastrointestinal Malignancies Program Project Summary / Abstract The overarching goals of the Program are to prevent, detect early, and manage more accurately and effectively the treatment of GI malignancies. The Program will take full advantage of cutting-edge genomic technologies to identify genetic and epigenetic changes that are important in initiation and progression of GI cancers, as well as their response to therapy. Given the complexity and heterogeneity of GI malignancies, the Program had historically emphasized pancreatic and colorectal cancers, two of the four leading causes of US cancer deaths. However, with the expanding expertise and accomplishments of the Program in the other GI cancers during the previous funding period, the Program has intensified efforts in hepatobiliary, esophagogastric, and neuroendocrine tumors. The program has 95 members, representing seven DF/HCC institutions and 12 academic departments. In 2014 peer-reviewed grant funding attributed to the Program was $5.9 million in total costs from the NCI and $5.3 million from other sponsors. During the current funding period, Gastrointestinal Malignancies Program members published 2,003 cancer-relevant papers. Of these 33% were inter-institutional, 24% were intra-programmatic, and 45% were inter-programmatic collaborations between two or more DF/HCC members. Overall, when counted once, 27% of DF/HCC publications were inter- programmatic collaborations.